Condensate trap for suction



July 19, 1938. H. c. GRANT, JR 2,124,516

.YCONDENSAT E TRAP FOR SUCTION CONDUITS Filed Dec. 17, 1935 4/ 0 er I Z;

, 63 FIGURE 3 FIGURE 2 6! wl/ INVENTOR HARRY CAMPBELL ,GRAMT, JR.

FIGURE 4 BY @ORNEY Patented July 19, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CONDENSATE TRAP FOR SUCTION CONDUITS.

Harry Campbell'Grant, Jr., New York; N. Y., as-

signor to Walter Kidde & Company, Inc., Bloomfield N. .L, a corporation of. New Yorkv Application December 17, 1935; Serial No. 54,959

19 Claims. (01. 137-103) This invention has reference to" water traps adapted for use with systems and: apparatus comprising tubes-or pipes'through which air or gas is continuouslybeing drawn by suction.

The invention is particularly applicable to systems and .apparatus used for the detection of fire in. rooms-hand. spaces. which are removed from the place ofidetection or observation. It

relates more particularly to the typeoi system wherein'pipes oritubes'extend from the separatecompartments or rooms to the point of observation,..so that if fire breaks out in any one space or room; smoke will automatically" be drawn orcaused to .flow to the observation place and in this way the fact that a fire exists in any suohspace is made known, and accordingly ap-' propriatesteps maybe taken.

Suchfire wdetectingsystems as applied particularly for marine usage have been disclosed in patents to Freygang, No. 1,343,911, and others.

The object of this invention is to provide an.

improvement for such systems which overcomes certain disadvantages that have arisen' in .the

past. I

Apparatus of thistype has been subject to. one very. serious objection in. its .use on ships' or in buildings when .the conduits connectingthe rooms or compartments with. the observation cabinet are subjected. to a series.o-f. temperature changes depending on the paths followed by. the conduits inconnectingthe spacesto the cabinets; As is well known the moisturecontent of the air. in-a given space may be varied by increasing or decreasing the temperature of the space. At low temperatures the moisture. saturation point of theair is considerably lower than the saturation point of the air. at a higher temperature.

Thus with. a high temperature. a .given amount of air. is capable of carrying a larger amount. of 40' moisturathanthe.sameamountof air can carry.

atalowertemperature, Consequently, if;a conduitdrawing air, in which there is plenty of'.

moisture, from. awarm roompasses through a verycold roomon its way to the cabinet, some of-,,the-moisture in.the airwill drop outas it passesthrough-the colderregion. The moisture becomes liquid and. stays in the conduit, collecting at the lowest. point in the conduit. When sufiicient condensed liquid has collected, it will either decrease the area of the conduit and thus the'amount of air 'being'drawn through the conduit, thereby decreasing the efliciency of the detecting system, or it will close the conduit to all passage of air, thus defeating the whole purpose" of the system. r

lowingde'scription of a particular embodiment of the invention and by consideration of the, ac-' companying drawingg the novel features of the invention being set forth with particularity in the appended claims.

In order that the invention may be better understood; attention is directed to the accompan'ying, drawing in which Figure 1 is a vertical sectional View showing a section through the cabinet, one of the detector pipes throughout (except where the vertical and longitudinal legs thereof are broken away) and the upper ends of two other detector pipes-leading into the cabinet of, a fire indicating system in which the present invention has been applied. Figure 2 is a vertical sectionalviewshowing the details of the device of the present invention as it-is attached to a conduit of the .fire indicating system; Figure 3 is an elevational View at right angles to Figure '2 of the device of the present invention; Figure 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Figure 2.

A brief descriptionof a fire detecting system with which the present invention is used is best understood by reference to Figure 1. The detector cabinet is directly connected to the space which is tobe supervised by a pipe or conduit 3 which leads directly into-the chamber 5. The 1 open ends of the detector pipes are disclosed through the glass front I. The ends are usually arranged in banks with the ends raised to different' levels as can be seen by the various heights at which the ends 9; H and I3 of the detector lines are placed. The chamber 5 is illuminated by artificial means, such as an-e1ec--- tric-lightbulb so that the presence of smoke issuing from any one of the detector lines may be readilyascertained. A rotary blower '15 is mounted in a suitable casing ll above the chamber 5, and'is operated by an electric motor I9. A pipe 2i connects the interior of the chamber 5 with suction of the; blower, and the exhaust pipe 23 leads to the room in which the cabinet is located whereby all; or, if desired, a part only curved passage 3|.

' duit 3.

of the air drawn through the'detector pipes will be discharged into that roomand the of any smoke will be detected by its odor.

The lower end of each detector pipe is preferably provided with a hood 25 in the compartment, made partly spherical, as shown, and

through which air and smoke will be drawn into the detector pipe. of each detector pipe with the hood H at its end will be located in the top of each compart observed through the glass! in the event fire has broken out in the compartment corresponding to that detector pipe.

In order to insure clear passage through the detector conduits in the event that liquid condenses out of the air passing through the pipes,

each pipe is provided with one or more condensation traps at the low points in the pipes where liquid would ordinarily collect. One trap 21 is shown on pipe 3.

The trap 27 illustrated by Figure 2 consists of a main casing 29 of brass or bronze having a The conduit 3 is provided with a hole 33 in which is placed a Monel metal sleeve 35 which extends through the pipe and into the passage 3| where it rests on a seat 31. Surrounding the sleeve and resting between the conduit and the casing is a gasket 39 to insure an airtight connection between the casing and the conduit since'it is imperative that no air enter the casing or the conduit during the operation of the apparatus. The passage 3| becomes horizontal and is met by the vertical passage 4|. At' the upper extremity of this passage is a seat 43. Surrounding the seat 43 is a chamber 45 which serves to keep the disc 4'! from getting into such a position that it would not rest on the seat .43 when it falls or is pulled to rest on the seat. which may be raised from its seat by the condensed liquid,'be light enough to be drawn to the seat by a slight suction, be impervious to air, and make a joint with the seat through which no air can be drawn. A material which has been found to have the required properties and which will serve the purpose is that known as Celeron in the trade. Above the chamber 45 and communicating with it is another chamber 5| with a recess 53. Another washer 55 surrounding the opening of the chamber 45 lies in the recess 53. Resting'on the washer 55 is an outlet casing 5'! of brass or'bronze, the upper portion of which rests securely against the con- This casing has a passage 59 of the same size and directly in line with the passage 4| of the main condensate trap casing. ,A seat 60 at the end of the passage 59 is also provided, the purpose of which will be explained hereinafter.

As will be noted the disc 41 is made of a diameter sufiicient to prevent the disc from either going up into the passage 59 or down into the passage 4|. The disc must therefore remain in the chamber 45 and no matter how the disc falls on the seat it will always close oiT the passage 4| the degree of tightness with which it rests on the seat, of course, depending on gravity and the presence Ordinarily the horizontal leg The disc must be made of a material.

suction present in the pipe. The material, size and shape of the disc and the design of the chamber are such that any condensed liquid collecting in the trap and escaping therefrom cannot raise the disc to the seat 69 and so prevent the liquid from escaping. A very high pressure would, of course,'push this disc against'the seat 69 but the slight pressure exerted by the liquid head is insufficient to do this, being merely sufficient to raise the disc high enough ofi the seat 43 to permit the liquid to seep around the edges of the seat and escape through the discharge passages.

In the wall of this casing at right angles to the passage 59 are provided two square openings which are best illustrated by Figure 4;. It is through these openings that any liquid collected in the conduit is permitted to escape.

The entire liquid trap consisting of the two casings 29 and 51 is securely held in communication with the hole 33 and thepipe 3 'by the clamp 63. The casing 29 is provided with, lugs having holes through which the clamp 63 passes. trap rests against the pipe may be increased or decreased or the entire trap may be removed from the pipe by means of the nuts 6'! which are in threaded engagement with the clamp 63.

If any liquid collects in the pipe 3 the liquid will a naturally run to the lowest point and stand there.

The hole 33 is accordingly made at such a low point and the trap attached. The liquid seeking a lower level will then fiow into the trap. It

will flow into the horizontal passage 3| where it will collect until enough liquid has been collected to raise the disc from its seat. 7 of liquid increases the level will rise until it has reached the level of the square openings 6| when it will fiow through these'openings andescape. Since the disc is of amaterial that will not float, it will be carried in suspensionin the liquidand will thus permit the liquid to flow'by the seat 6|] through the passage 59 and out of the trap.

When there is no condensed liquid in thetrap,

or when the amount or liquid is insuflicient to close ofi'the passage to the disc the suction which The amount of pressure with which the As the amount is present in the pipe is suflicient to hold the disc j on its seat. When the passage has enough liquid to fill the passage but insufiicient to raise the disc off its seat the liquid in the passage will serve to seal off the conduit fromthe air so that in this condition there is no necessity for the disc and seat. I raise the disc off its seat the liquid is free to flow through the square passages when the level of the liquid has risen to the level of these passages. Qbviously the amount of suction which is present in the pipe will control the size of the condensate trap. The trap as shown in designed for a suction of about an inch of water or less but it is possible to use this trap when the suc- W'hen the trap is used for a tion is greater.

When the liquid is sufficient to higher suction. it is necessary to periodically v shut oif the suction in thejconduit so that any condensed liquid will be permitted to flow through the trap and escape. As long as a high suction is present in the conduitit: will hold theliquid in the conduit and trap'and the'li'quid cannot escape, but releasing the suction permits the liquid to escape under its own head. However,

. if it is desired to make a trap which will operate at greater vacuum and permit a continuous suction in the conduit, it is only necessary to make the passage 4| longer and to design the passage 3| in accordance.

The purpose of the seat 69 will now be explained. In some installationsoftfire detecting systems, it has: been found 'to be v of. advantagetz to introduce, 1 upon the" discovery; ;.of fire? in: a space-,-: a fire"extinguishing'medium; such as at I I, ora special valve: may: be installedron the conduit 3 which is not-illustrated here but: is shown in the Freyga-ng Patent-No}: 1,343,911- previously referred to:- Wherrsuclr. a high pres?- sureifire extinguishing-medium is'introdu'cedfinto' the conduit the pressure is so great that when' the medium enters: a trapit. will force the-di'sc:

41 up against the seat .60 and presscittherei so tightly that' none of the medium can: escapezfrom the -trap: Therefore, it will bet-seen that the disc serves another purpose in: that-it prevents v.

any high pressure-medium introduced into a: con:-

duit' from escaping through. the" trap: Another feature of this arrangementr-is'thaifiin the 'eventv any foreign materialrcollectsin"the conduit compressed r air: may. be introduced through the open end of the conduit and theundesired: elementblown out of the conduit without losing the air,

and consequently pressure; through the trap.

It will thus be seen thata trap:for a conduit under suction has been provided'which will maintain the suction in the conduit bymaintaining an' airs closed' connection but' which" will automatically open 'whencondensed -liquid has: col-"- lectedin the conduit andpermit the liquid to escape-and: thus preservea clear'pa'ssage' through the- I conduit at f all times; Although the invention 'hasbeen particularly: shown and "described in conjunction with" a fire indicating system, the invention is -not toi be limited tof fire: indicating systems but is to be applied wherever a line is under suction.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim is:-

1. A combined trap and outlet drain for the condensation products of a conduit normally under suction comprising a trap proper apart from the conduit, means to conduct the condensation products to the trap, means to efiect communication of the trap with the atmosphere, and means preventing such communication when the conduit contains a high pressure fluid medium, said last named means being adapted to prevent atmospheric air from entering the trap.

2. A trap for liquid condensed in a conduit under suction comprising a casing having a passage, a sleeve in the passage extending into and communicating with the bore of the conduit,

a gasket surrounding the sleeve and lying between the casing and the conduit, a chamber in the casing associated with the passage, a seat in the chamber, a disc normally resting on the seat, a recess in the casing associated with the chamber, a gasket in the recess, a second casing resting on the gasket and bearing against the conduit, a passage in the second casing communicating with the chamber, and outlets connecting the last named passage to the atmosphere.

3. In a condensate trap for a conduit normally under suction, means apart from the conduit to collect the condensation products, means connecting the conduit with the collecting means, means to permit flow of the condensation products from the trap, and means in the collecting means to prevent flow of air through the collecting means to the conduit, said last named means being. adaptedi to present:the escapei off any high pressure fluid medium introducedi into it the: conduit. x

4; 'Inl aT .water trap= for a conduit! normally under a partial vacuum, 'means apartfrom: thei conduitto. collect any waterxcondensedy means to drainiawayithe condensed water, and means preventing entrance of tair to. the trap; said 5 last named means being adapted to prevent: the escape, of any high-1 pressure 'fluid mediumzintro duced into the conduit 5. Ina trap for conduits'normally'under'suction; means apart fromthelionduituto drain. and

collect: liquid from; a conduit, means t'o permi'tf escape. of theiliquidy' means" preventing: atmose pheric air. from entering 'thettrap; saidilastnam'ed means being adapted. toprevent escape of any:

high: pressure fluid medium introduced into the conduit.

6. In a me detecting and extinguishingzsys temz comprising a series of conduits connecting the: spaces" to be protecte'd'to a central ob'serva tion chambenand having means to draw the-- air from the spaces; to the chamber and means to: introduce a fire extinguishingflmedium' under pressure into theconduit, means llO IEIlIOVC liquid condensation products ironi' the conduitscomprising means to drain and collect the con"- densation products, means to" permit escapebfw the products, means to prevent' the escapeot" the fire-extinguishing medium under "pressure from the conduits, and means to normally pre'-' vent air from enterin'g the conduit 'through the 1? removingmeans;

'7. A trap for: conduits normally under suction:

comprisinga casing apart from .1 the conduit hav surrounding the passage, a disc 'maintained on the seat by the suction, a casing having a passage vented to the atmosphere, and a seat in the last named casing surrounding its passage, said disc normally preventing communication with the atmosphere and adapted to engage the second named seat when high pressure fluid is introduced in the conduit.

8. A trap for conduits normally under suction comprising a casing apart from the conduit to collect condensation products, means to permit the products to escape, and means to prevent entrance of air through the casing to the conduit but permitting escape of the products, said last named means being adapted to prevent the escape of any high pressure fluid medium introduced into the conduit.

9. In a condensation trap for a conduit normally subjected to suction, means apart from the conduit to drain the condensate from the conduit, means to remove the condensate from said means, and means to prevent the first said means from venting to the atmosphere when a high pressure fluid medium is introduced in the conduit, said last named means being adapted to prevent atmospheric air from entering the trap.

10. In a condensate trap for a conduit subing a-passage' therethrough-Qa seat in theficasing jected to suction, a collecting casing associated with the conduit but apart therefrom, an atmospheric casing associated with the first casing, a seat in the first casing, a disc on the seat normally preventing communication with the atmosphere, and a seat in the atmospheric casing, said disc and said last named seat preventing leakage of any high pressure fluid medium introduced into the conduit.

11. In a trap for a suction conduit, a collection; casing apart .irom the conduit, a sleeve joining the conduit and the casing, a chamber inthe casing, a seat in the chamber, a disc nor-. mally on said seat, and: a second casing associated with the chamber of the first casing, said second casing venting to the atmosphere.

12.: In a trapfor a suction conduit, a collection casing, a sleeve joining the conduit and casing,

a gasket between the conduit and casing and surrounding the sleeve, a chamber in the casing, a

seat in the chamber, a disc on the seat,.a recess in thecasing adjacent the chamber, 'a gasket in the recess; a second casing resting on the gasket and bearing on the conduit, an atmospheric vent in the second-casing, lugs on the first casing, a clamp passing through the lugs and securing the whole to the conduit inairtight relationship.

13. .In a condensate drain for a suction conduit, means to permit escape of the condensate and means'to normally prevent communication with V the atmosphere, said last named means being 1 adapted to prevent the escape of any high pressure fluid medium introduced in the conduit.

14. In a condensate trap for a suction conduit,

a collecting casing apart from the conduit, a

chamber in the casing, a seat in the chamber, adisc on the seat, a recess in the casing adjacent .thechamber, a gasket in the recess, a second casing'associated with the first, and an atmospheric vent'in the second casing.

15. In a liquid trap for a suction conduit, a liquid collecting casing apart from the conduit, a seat in the casing, a disc on the seat, a second casing associated with the first, and atmospheric Q ,vents in the second casing, said disc being raised from its seat by the drained liquid to permit the escape thereof through the atmospheric vents.

, 16. In a condensate trap for a suction conduit, a condensate collecting casing apart from the nication between the conduit and the atmosphere;

said last named means being operable to permit municating with the atmosphere and to prevent introduced in the conduit; 1

17. In a trap for a suction conduit, collecting the escape of any high. pressure fluid medium means apart from theconduit, a pair of valve seats in the collecting means, valve means between said pair of seats adapted to be seated in one direction by suction in the. conduit and in the opposite direction by pressure in the conduit, and means vented to the atmosphere associated with the collecting means.

18. In a fluid trap for a suction conduit, means apart from the conduit to collect the fluid, means vented in the atmosphere to permit the fluid to flow off, and valve means preventing entrance of atmospheric air to the collecting means and preventing the escape of any high pressure fluid medium introduced in'the conduit.

19. In a trap for a suction conduit, a collector casing, a sleeve connecting'the conduit and the casing, a gasket surrounding the sleeve betweenthe conduit and the casing, a chamber in the casing, a seat in the chamber, a disc on theseat,

a recess in the casing adjacent the chamber, a,

gasket in the recess, a second casing resting on the gasket and bearing, on the conduit, a seat on the second casing, said disc being adapted to rest on the'last named seat when the conduit contains a high pressure; fluid medium, an atmospheric vent in the second'casing, lugs on the first casing, a clamp passing through the lugs and securing the trap to the conduit relationship.

HARRY CAMPBELL GRANT, JR.

in airtight the condensate to escape through the means com- 5 1' CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION. Patent No. 2,12 516, July l9, 1958.

HARRY CAMPBELL GRANT, JR.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the'printed ecification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 2, second columntline 58, for \the word "in" read is; page 5, second column, line l, claim 5, for "present" read prevent} page h, second column, line 19, claim 18, ad to; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may confonn to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 15th day of September, A. D. 1958.

Henry Van Arsdale (Seal) e I Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

